TMPH Fa14 Week 1: How People Learn

Teaching Methods in Public Health Week 1: How People Learn
Peter Newbury pnewbury@ucsd.edu @polarisdotca
Unless otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial 3.0 License.
Cheryl Anderson c1anderson@ucsd.edu

Who are we?
Peter Newbury
Cheryl Anderson
How People Learn - teachingmethodsinpublichealth.ucsd.edu
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Why are we here?
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What do you think students are doing in a typical university class?
A)listening
B)absorbing
C)learning
D)note-taking

The traditional lecture is based on the transmissionist model of learning
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image by um.dentistry on flickr CC

Important new number system
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Learn it.
1 =
4 =
7 =
2 =
5 =
8 =
3 =
6 =
9 =

Test
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What is this number?

Scientifically outdated, a known failure
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We must abandon the tabula rasa (blank slate) and “students as empty vessels” models of teaching and learning.

New Number System = tic-tac-toe code
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Test
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What number is this?

Constructivist Theory of Learning
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New learning is based on knowledge you already have.
You store things in long term memory through a set of connections that are made with your existing memories.
(Images by Rebecca-Lee on flickr CC)
Creating memories (learning) involves having neurons fire and link up in networks or patterns. (fMRI is allowing us to observe learning as it happens.)
learning is done by individuals

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How People Learn
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3 Key Findings
3 Implications for Teaching
3 Designs for Classroom Environment

Key Finding 1
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Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside of the classroom.
(How People Learn, p 14.)

Implications for Teaching 1
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Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.

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1 =
4 =
7 =
2 =
5 =
8 =
3 =
6 =
9 =
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
unsupported, unfamiliar content
built on pre-existing knowledge
(tic-tac-toe board)
Transmissionist
Constructivist

What do students bring to your class?
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Work with the other person at your table.
Partner 1 (whose first name comes earlier in alphabet):
Think of a concept in a freshman-level course in your discipline. What knowledge, experience, or skill do your students already have that you can use to teach that concept?
Partner 2:
Help your partner align pre-existing knowledge, experience, or skill and the concept.
“In a moment but not yet…”

Classroom Environments 1
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Schools and classrooms must be learner centered.
(How People Learn, p. 23)
Students need to encounter safe yet challenging conditions in which they can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again without facing summative evaluation.
(What the best college teachers do, p.108)

Learning requires interaction [3]
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% of class time NOT lecturing
Learning gain:
pre-test
0
100%
post-test
0.50

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52 classes of sizes 25 to 100+ students, at 2- and 4-yr colleges and research universities across US. Every student wrote an astronomy test (twice). Points shows a class’ learning gain.

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1
2
3
4

Key Finding 2
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To develop competence in an area, students must:
a)have a deep foundation of factual knowledge,
b)understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and
c)organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

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Why Your Students Don’t Understand You
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Expert brains differ from novice brains because
novices lack rich, networked connections, cannot make inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information
notices have preconceptions that distract, confuse, hinder
novices lack automization (“muscle memory”) resulting in cognitive overload

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Teachers must teach some subject matter in depth, providing many examples in which the same concept is at work and providing a firm foundation of factual knowledge.
To provide a knowledge-centered environment, attention must be given to what is taught (information, subject matter), why it is taught (understanding), and what competence or mastery looks like.

Expert-like thinking
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Think about the class you observed earlier this week.
How often did the instructor model expert-like thinking or behavior? That is, not just sharing content but revealing and demonstrating how experts think about, process, articulate, etc. the concepts.
A)all the time
B)occasionally
C)hardly ever
D)never

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knowledge
framework
retrieval

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knowledge
framework
retrieval

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knowledge framework retrieval

Key Finding 3
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A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.

Aside: metacognition
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Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes or anything related to them. For example, I am engaging in metacognition if I notice that I am having more trouble learning A than B.
([4], [5])
cognition
meta

Key Finding 3
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A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.

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The teaching of metacognitive skills should be integrated into the curriculum in a variety of subject areas.
Formative assessments — ongoing assessments designed to make students’ thinking visible to both teachers and students — are essential.

Supporting metacognition
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Why do you think instructors ask, “Any questions?”
A)to signal they’re at the end of a section or concept
B)so the instructor can check if s/he can continue
C)so the instructor can check if the students understand
D)so the students can check if they’re ready to continue
E)not sure but it’s something instructors should do
“What questions do you have for me?”
…and give them enough time to ask a useful question

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What is going to happen in this class
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Weekly meetings in BRF 1102:
1hr 20 min mixture of theory and practice
interact in small groups
Wed 3:00 – 4:20 pm
If you need to attend a conference, job interview or something of that nature, attend another weekly session and let us know.
To prepare:
read assigned research paper, chapter, article, etc.
do an activity (post on the class blog, leave comments on others’ posts, observe a class, etc.)

Traditional classroom
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first exposure to material is in class, content is transmitted from instructor to student
learning occurs later when student struggles alone to complete homework, essay, project
learn easy stuff together
learn hard stuff alone
transfer
assimilate

Flipped classroom
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student learns easy content at home: definitions, basic skills, simple examples. Frees up class time for...
students are prepared to tackle challenging concepts in class, with immediate feedback from peers, instructor
learn hard stuff together
learn easy stuff alone
transfer
assimilate

Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic- level LO
Course-level LO
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Course-level LO
Course-level LO
Course-level learning outcome (LO)
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic- level LO
Topic-level LO
Topic-level LO

Course-level learning outcomes
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By the end of The College Classroom, you’ll be able to
explain why certain instructional activities are successful and why others are not
identify and support student-centered learning environments
recognize and build upon the diversity of your students
be reflective and scholarly about your teaching
know how to succeed as a professional educator in higher education
participate in the teaching and learning community, in-person and online

Topic-level learning outcomes
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Many topic-level learning outcomes in
1.modern theory of Constructivist learning
by the end of the course, you’ll be able to have an elevator conversation describing the importance of metacognition in learning.
and more…

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2. best practices for the college classroom
by the end of the course, you’ll be able to write a peer instruction (clicker) question and explain to a colleague the rationale behind the question and choices and describe how it can be incorporated into the lesson.
and more…
Throughout the classes, we’ll be trying to model best practices so try to watch how we teach as well as what we teach.

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3.how to be a successful, professional educator
by the end of the course, you’ll be able to collaborate with others using Google docs.
and more…

teachingmethodsinpublichealth.ucsd.edu
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All course information, presentations, links to readings, discussions, etc. will be on the class blog.
We’ll also borrow material (for now) from
thecollegeclassroom.ucsd.edu

Course blog is public so
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I can only provide links to copyrighted articles, not the articles (PDF) themselves
you may need to be on-campus so you can use UCSD credentials to access subscriptions
you may be able to connect from home with the UCSD web proxy server (search Blink for “web proxy”)

Week 2: Supporting expert-like thinking
Watch for communication with a description of tasks to complete before next class.
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References
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1.National Research Council (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition. J.D. Bransford, A.L Brown & R.R. Cocking (Eds.),Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
2.Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
3.Prather, E.E, Rudolph, A.L., Brissenden, G., & Schlingman, W.M. (2009). A national study assessing the teaching and learning of introductory astronomy. Part I. The effect of interactive instruction. Am. J. Phys. 77, 4, 320-330.
4.Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp.231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
5.Brame, C. (2013). Thinking about metacognition. [blog] January, 2013, Available at: http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/01/thinking-about- metacognition/ [Accessed: 14 Jan 2013].

TMPH Fa14 Week 1: How People Learn

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